So the dt48E 200ohm then.
In many ways these cans remind me of an Alpha Romeo I’d owned many years ago. This beautiful Alfa GT finished in glorious alpha red was a real nightmare to maintain. It’s flaws were plentiful and the car spent as much time in the hands of the mechanic as it did in mine. I found myself making excuses to justify owning it. Flawed as it was, I’ve had the best drives of my life in that car. The low end purge from the engine was sublime and the brilliant chassis, drivetrain and power delivery made driving in the country on a summers day an exhilarating experience.
The dt48s are also flawed and frustrating at times. They are not comfortable. They clamp on my head firmly and the leather ear pads leave my ears sweaty and sore after just an hour of use. They aren’t the best built headphones. Sure, the use of metal and leather is nice but everything is put together in a crude fashion. They don’t exude refinement or luxury by any stretch of the imagination. The sound from these cans is strange to say the least. The low end is best described as curtailed, they don’t have much of a soundstage and the treble isn’t particularly effervescent.
But, if you’re willing to cater to these headphones they will reward you like no other. You will need a high-end source to begin with and an equally formidable amplifier to get the best out of them. You must also reset your expectation of what neutrality really is. We live in a world today where mastering engineers boost treble to clipping and bass cans are ubiquitous. Even the Harman target response curve boosts the lower frequencies. This means that the reference for today’s headphones is a frequency response curve that best imitates a speaker response in a room. For me, this is a highly flawed philosophy as they are two different pieces of kit that present audio in a very different way.
The Dt48s are from an era where this was not the case. They do not attempt to be anything other than close proximity transducers with the highest fidelity. This quality is why I honestly believe they leave all the other headphones I have heard in their trail. That anaemic bass I’ve mentioned is actually more correct than the alternatives. It’s isn’t boosted one bit and is incredibly transparent. It articulates tone and texture of the lower frequencies beautifully and I’m able to discern the body and sound of instruments with ease. The woody element to an acoustic guitar or the texture of the strings is laid bare. This perceived lean character lends to a wickedly fast low end which makes even the planars I’ve heard sound slow in comparison. Have no doubt about this, these headphones are fast and detailed.
That detail however does not come at the expense of a smooth treble response. This headphone cannot be described as harsh. If anything the treble has a slight roll off so no ear bleeding here. However, compared to my incredibly smooth Harbeth 30.2XD speakers I am still able to pick up on the tone of that metal driver. Don’t let this put you off though as I am incredibly sensitive to this. I have an affinity for soft dome tweeters on high end speakers and I always prefer them to air motion tweeters or metal domes. Not to mention I’m comparing the dt48s treble to a speaker rig with an estimated value of 20k sterling.
And now onto the best quality of the dt48s. That midrange. Here, these pair of headphones better every other I’ve heard and by quite a margin. Every recording sounds different with the dt48s because it was recorded and mastered that way. This to me is a clear demonstration of the high fidelity these cans posses. Keep in mind the soundstage is very closed in. The sound is reminiscent of high end Naim gear. Pace, rhythm and timing leads the way and everything else is secondary. In my honest opinion the tone is absolutely neutral but it’s the transparency which leaves me throughly entertained.
However, I truly believe that the focused and transparent tuning of these cans is what will be a problem for many headfi-ers. For most, the visceral bass of many alternatives will be more impressive and the lightning fast bass on the dt48s will never be enough as it considerably less extended; Regardless of the fact that it’s closer in fidelity to my reference speaker rig than any planar or dynamic I’ve heard. I’ve also heard more extended treble from other headphones with the caveat of that metallic sheen that I cannot stand. Then there is the alternative, the dark treble tuning which just sounds wrong to me but is to many peoples liking. In addition to this the dt48s are not comfortable for me. Compared to modern beyers there is a very noticeable difference. This is a very important consideration for many people and I really do feel they may avoid the dt48s for this reason alone.
To conclude then, the beyerdynamic dt48s have a sound that few adore, many despise and most simply will never understand. I believe that they were designed and built in an era that makes them less relevant to many users today. Even so, for me they are the most fun I’ve had with headphones. They are a true high fidelity pair of headphones that give you the most honest rendition of the signal they are fed.
gear used;MacBook Pro (Audirvana plus playback software), Berkeley Audio Alpha USB, Audio Note DAC 2.1x Signature, Eufonika h7 amplifier.
